The problem now isn't so much that America's 20-somethings can't get jobs, it's that they can't get the jobs they actually want.

Over 44% of recent college graduates are underemployed, according to the New York Federal Reserve. That means that despite earning that college degree, they're working in jobs that don't require that qualification.

People who do a lot of hiring say 21 and 22-year-olds just don't get it. They fire off resumes online without much thought.

Mei-Mei Tuan is a Wall Street success story. She started at Goldman Sachs(GS) in New York and later moved to Bank of America(BAC) in San Francisco in the early days of project finance. Now she runs her own Wall Street firm, Notch Partners.

For McFee, it all started with a speculative letter he wrote the summer of 1980 to the head of the British Professional Golf Association. He had just graduated from the University of Leeds .

"If you know there is something out there and you want to be a part of it, be proactive," says Andy McFee. "Don't wait for a job ad to appear."

In many ways, McFee was lucky. His letter landed on the desk of the head of the British PGA the very day someone else resigned. He recalls posting his letter on a Friday and getting a call on Monday to come for an interview.

But the point is he never would have gotten that call without writing the letter.

But just because smartphones and emails have replaced typewritten letters doesn't mean that actually writing a smart missive or calling someone at the top isn't the way to go.

Matthew Ross is the author of the "brutally honest" cover letter that became famous on Wall Street in 2013.

When he wrote to an executive at Duff and Phelps to ask for an internship, he said he "won't waste your time inflating my credentials, throwing around exaggerated job titles, or feeding you a line of crap about how my past experiences and skill set align perfectly for an investment banking internship."

It worked. He got an interview, a summer internship and, later, a job at the company.

Standing out is more important than ever.

The reality is hundreds of people apply for any job posted online. There's a lot of competition. The New York Fed estimates there are 270,000 unemployed recent college graduates and about 2.3 million underemployed recent college grads.

"Apply to fewer jobs, but be more thoughtful about why you're applying and what you're going to say," recommends Tuan.